AN OVERVIEW OF MODELING STUDIES IN HDS, HDN AND HDO CATALYSIS

Recent legislation directed at reducing sulfur levels in petroleum-bas ed fuels has led to numerous studies of commercial hydrotreating, the process whereby sulfur, nitrogen, and oxygen are removed from organic compounds in petroleum feedstocks. The goal of this overview is to hig hlight organometallic and clean surface model studies that offer reali stic ways of understanding details of hydrodesulfurization (HDS), hydr odenitrogenation (HDN) and hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) reactions as they occur on heterogeneous hydrotreating catalysts. (C) 1997 Elsevier Scie nce Ltd.